A CANADIAN passion for sitting in a hot tub under the stars appears to be bubbling up in South Wales.

Whatever the weather in Canada - and it can get pretty darn cold - one in three households has a spa in the garden which they use throughout the year.

Even in the dead of winter, and with the temperature gauge hitting minus 10 or below, plucky Canadians set the spa to hot, strip off and dive in.

And while the North American might have a tough outdoors image, it appears that the idea of luxuriating in a hot tub in the back garden is now taking off across South Wales.

Arctic Spas Wales was set up in the Vale of Glamorgan three months ago to sell imported Canadian spas - think an outdoor jacuzzi.

Managing director David Dean expected to sell just two a month to begin with, but the company has already sold 26, mainly through word of mouth.

Arctic Spa Wales is now working flat out to keep up with the demand, and predicts a 20% growth in annual turnover.

Based in Westwinds Business Park at Llangan, near Bridgend, it is also having to move into larger premises.

Mr Dean, who also runs Lead Automation, a company that supplies machines that make printed circuit boards, initially thought Arctic Spars would just be a niche side project.

But it is now taking over more and more of his time.

He said, "Although Lead Automation had a #1.2m turnover last year, cut-throat competition from China and Eastern Europe was beginning to tell, so we needed to diversify.

"I was aware of growing interest in this country in open-air hot tubs. A third of all Canadian houses are said to have one, and more than 1,000 spas a year are being installed on the small island of Guernsey alone.

"Although they range from #5,000-#13,000 each, outdoor spas are not the preserve of rich people with big gardens - we have sold two to council house tenants and a number to properties with tiny backyards."

He added, "It's a healthy lifestyle product. It's a fabulous stress and aches reliever, and a great social and family focus. Coffee mornings and parties are never the same again!"

Arctic Spas Wales markets 14 varieties of the Canadian-built tubs, accommodating 2-10 people, which are engineered for the harshest climates.

The water, pumped through up to 60 jets, is kept permanently warm under special covers with running costs of about #1 a day.

Mr Dean said, "They are so easy to look after, you just keep them running all the time, and add some water treatments every few days. This way you can just be spontaneous and hop in whenever you feel like it."

Arctic Spas Wales is being assisted by Entrepreneur Action, the specialist support provider for new growth businesses through the Welsh Development Agency's New Business Starts Programme.

Mr Dean said, "We will also be providing gazebos and saunas, but my family find sitting in a warm tub under the stars, or in the rain, is the best. People never want to get out and it makes you very popular with the neighbours.

"One Welsh rugby star has just bought one to ease his bruises after a game and an 80-year-old lady from Maesteg rang us from her tub to say it had done wonders for her arthritis."